That which is born in the state of Previous Existence, is born invisible—or formless; being extant in the state of Subsequent Existence, it is incorporeal. But that which is incorporeal has never really been extant; wherefore such a thing may be said to be unthinkable. The inherent nature [of man] is quiescent; then his mind is within him.† The mind [of man] is active; then his nature is within him.‡ When the mind prevails, the inherent nature is annihilated; when the mind is annihilated, the inherent nature becomes manifested. Resembling emptiness, without external form, it is then pure and pellucid, perfect and complete.

The Great TAO is without peer; wherefore [its votary] ever maintains, interiorly, the Actual—the Existent. His unalloyed inherent nature is inactive; wherefore his mind never asserts itself externally. Self-sufficient and spontaneous, illimitable in extent [are the internal resources of such a man]! Whatever may be the circumstances of surroundings with which he is brought into contact, he ignores them all; he is not engulphed in the toils of the Six Despoilers; living in the dusty world, he is yet outside of it; he is not drawn into the transmutations of the myriad affinities. Being perfectly quiescent, he never moves; possessing perfect harmony,§ he never changes. His wisdom reflects, as in a mirror, the entire Universe; his emptiness evolves inaction.

The existence of Law he perceives to be its absence; Not to cultivate [TAO] he understands as, really, its cultivation; He embracingly upholds the myriad forms of Life Without so much anxiety as the tip of a thread of silk.